Telehealth

Telehealth is a general term for a broad spectrum of capabilities,
ranging from two health providers discussing a patient over a phone to
using
High-Definition Video Conferencing or Robotic Technology to deliver
remote patient care.

What's clear is that the spectrum of telehealth options offers a
variety of mechanisms to deliver cost-effective, more direct, more
specialized, and more one-on-one medical services to populations which
may not have those specialties or medical services available to them
locally. An increasing number of specialties can now be supported via
telehealth.

Telehealth technologies can be used for multiple purposes, including patient
monitoring, medical consultations, patient education, and care delivery,
in a real-time (synchronous) or store-and-forward (asynchronous) manner.
Some of the issues to be aware of are:

Reimbursement rules and treatment licenses vary from state to state
and from treatment to treatment. You need to have a solid understanding
of what will be covered and what a physician's legal ability to
deliver care is on a point-to-point basis.

Depending on the type and level of telemedicine you want to
deliver, infrastructure will need to be acquired, installed,
integrated, tested, and supported. Physician groups need to
understand all costs involved and if sufficient transmission
bandwidth exists in the geographic locations they want to service.

Adoption can be a challenge. Not all providers or patients are
comfortable meeting remotely. You need to be sure that the
technology is straightforward and easy to use, and that patient care
is not sacrificed.

Ultimately, telehealth solutions need to be:

Interoperable: Able to communicate with
other systems seamlessly

Scalable: Able to grow and deliver
additional video, images, and audio without needing to be replaced

Reliable: Able to work effortlessly and
with minimum down-time

Portable: Able to transmit data in a
format which is readable by the receiving systems

JCS can help you develop your Telehealth Strategy, navigate the maze
of partners and technologies, and implement a telehealth solution
that is right for your organization and patient population.

Please follow this link for information on
additional JCS services for the Healthcare
industry.